"The idea that "burying" yourself in work might somehow end the depression or general unhappiness one might be experiencing is... well... insensitive."

I give up. I think some people are going to look for the negative no matter what is said. I clearly stated that I did not have all of the answers to someone having troubles overseas. Those were some suggestions. What suggestions did you present? None. Zero. Who is being insensitive? If you want to look for the bad, be negative, whatever. If that's what makes you happy, seeing someone who is unhappy and presenting no suggestions - well I don't know what to say to you. I am very willing to talk with a coworker and do whatever I can to help out. Or should I moan and complain with the person so we feel worse?


"Comparing a doctor leaving to return home mid surgery and a teacher not fulfilling his/her contract for whatever reason (homesickness, laziness, unethical hiring practices, failure to fulfill contractual obligations, etc.) is a tiny bit flawed wouldn't you say? "

My answer to you would be that you probably do see a difference and that also bothers me a little bit. What about a construction company who leaves before the job is finished, someone giving you a haircut, a grocery clerk at a store while you are in line? The list could go on, but I doubt you would see that they are in a way related. I honestly hope that you never get left "hanging" because someone quit while you needed them. Once again I never said that it was easy to work overseas. I never did. It can be really tough working at some places, and I realize that. I am suggesting that a person really think about it, and maybe do some reflection to see how you can make the situation better. In some cases you can't i.e. if someone is harassing you, or if someone is stalking you, there isn't much you can do but get out. I'm talking about teachers who leave and then trash the school for "personal reasons".

I know I will get bashed again so fire away! Negativity rules!

"Specialed I'd be grateful if you'd point out any other website or forum where international teachers can get an honest, no-cover up opinion of administrators in international schools. "

I was talking about fairness for the whole last paragraph of my previous post. Where is the site for an opinion of teachers? Shouldn't there be a site that evaluates teachers if there is one for administrators?

I love the idea of people telling me what their opinion of the school is, what the housing is like, what the attitude of locals is to teachers, what it's like to actually teach there - but I'm not interested in hearing someone get slammed regardless of whether or not they are a teacher or an administrator. I realize that I am fighting a losing battle, but hey I still try. In the media I see the hyperbole usage all of the time. Romney "lashes out", Obama "slams Clinton". If I disagree with someone, I see no need to attack them to make my point or if I disagree with them. I can disagree without attacking you. If we verbally attack everyone we disagree with, it would be a pretty sad place. I am also advocating fairness. If they posted a "Teacher Report Card" on the site, there would be a rebellion, yet there is one for admin.

In regards to the "patronizing" part about not honoring contracts, I thought I said that it could be rough to keep your "word" by honoring your contract. If I did not mention that in my post, I apologize, but I thought I did. If you are miserable, you are miserable and I can't say much in regards to what you should do. If you are homesick/having a rough time/disagree with someone, do you leave? If someone is so distraught that they cannot function, maybe they should go home. But do not expect a glowing reference when you apply for your next job. I honestly think that some people in this forum expect a glowing report even if they did leave/cause trouble, etc. What would you think if you went to the local hospital (I'm assuming you are at an international school) and a Western doctor is operating on you, then he/she decides they are homesick, so they leave in the middle of an operation. Are you okay with that? Well this happens with teachers sometimes leaving during a class/overnight/over a break because they don't like someone, they are homesick, they don't like a policy, and the list could go on. I would love for someone to tell me that there is not a significant effect on the students in the class. Again, I never said sticking it out is easy. Try and remain positive, bury yourself in work, take a continuing education class, go out and have fun. I don't have all of answers to someone who is having trouble at school, but I do know that lashing out at someone in a public forum is not one of them. My biggest wish is for people posting a review to choose their words more carefully, think about how those words make you look (I'm talking about their thoughts and not talking about being picky about the grammar), and think about someone talking like that about you in a public forum.

Great posts by the way! I enjoy reading these every once in a while.

I agree with the question, "So why bother?" If International teaching is so bad for you, don't teach overseas. It is not for everybody. When overseas, you have to be able to stay, even in some rough times. Adversity and the unexpected are really to be expected. This is not easy to deal with if you are obsessive-compulsive (and let's be honest there are many people who are and you need everything to be done in your way and your time frame). In a way that is great because they are very orderly and that can be very nice to have a well run schedule, an organized classroom, and so on. Back home you could resign, although in Texas if you leave a school "hanging" by quiting, they can pull your certification if notified by your school. Talk about bullying and blackballing. International teaching is not a cake walk. Everyone who teaches overseas isn't the greatest person you will ever meet and your best friend for life. However, where are you going to find these people back home? Is your teaching job back home going to ensure that you have the best administrators and best co-teachers? International teaching will let you travel to places you dreamed about, working in locations you dream about, and let you work with some pretty awesome people. So are you going to focus on that one person whom you don't like/don't agree with, or are you going to focus on the plethora of reasons to work at an international school?

I know this site loves to rip into administrators (and some deserve it) but this site is also very one-sided and overlooks poor teacher performance and tries to excuse this poor teacher performance under the guise of "bad administration", "bullying", and "non-transparency". I work at a wonderful school with wonderful people. Do I like everyone - no. Do I have to like everyone to be be happy - no. It's funny how, on the one hand people say they are against blackballing and that it is wrong and evil, but on the other hand they slam administrators in an open forum to other teachers. If someone can tell me how these are different I would love to know. So teachers can badmouth any administrator in a public forum, but administrators can't badmouth teachers? I think they are both wrong. Whatever happened to talking to the person face-to-face and standing by your word. On the one hand people slam schools for not honoring their contract, on the other hand they have no problem "up and leaving" which is breaking the contract on their side. It all sounds so one-sided to me. How is this fair? The teachers can bad mouth anyone they want to and break contract "for any reason - Period" (to quote something written in another part of ISR) but when the administrators break contract or badmouth someone it is wrong. Aren't they generally both wrong (the key word is generally. Sexual harassment, safety issues, extreme incompetence are not acceptable by my definition)? Am I one of the few that see this as wrong or is there a silent majority who sees badmouthing and contract breaking as generally wrong - whichever side does it?

Just do your best. Remember that there are literally hundreds of international teaching jobs in really cool places! I go in to an interview with these thoughts; I am what I am and I don't put up a front to act like something I'm not. I may not get a job because of not "putting on a show", but my references and past performance speaks for me. I emphasize that I am a hard worker and talk about all of the training I've had, and how I've implemented this training into my classroom. People worry too much about interviews. If you are a good person and a good teacher - you will get a teaching job. Like I said, there are loads of teaching jobs in countries that are fascinating. When I talk with friends back home, they are in awe and almost jealous of all of the travel. I wish I would have found out about international teaching a long time ago. I would have been extremely interested if someone would have told me about it.

So go in to your interview with confidence! Let your past speak for you. Go in to the interview and emphasize what you have done, not what someone dreams about. Don't promise the world to them, and don't be one of those people who has done everything, and seen everything. Principals are looking for solid performance - not perfection - but someone who works hard, has done a good job in the past, and really tries to do a good job. Looks and first impressions are nice, but brute competence will get you a good job. It has for me! If you are a principal/director, you are looking for competence. You can't afford to hire Mr./Miss America if they are going to be dead weight on your staff, even if they are very pretty/cute/whatever. You have to go for staff that are going to do a good job. It's too hard to replace staff overseas, let alone the schools are usually too short-staffed, to be playing those kinds of games.

A sense of humor is also nice. Tell a humorous story (not embarrassing, but funny). A sense of humor goes a long way in an interview. It helps to lighten up the atmosphere and shows you can handle pressure.

I hope this helps!

I think the message is supposed to be a funny reply to the other funny message. If you have taught at an international school, you would see the humor in both sets of messages. Schools can do some pretty shady things - hidden behind carefully laid out words. I have also witnessed staff who complain about everything, including the country we are in. As if someone made them come here! I have seen teachers complain about the bus ride to school, but are totally indignant when you suggest that they get a car if they don't like the long ride. It's as if the world is out to serve them so that is why the second set of "funnies" made me grin. The first set was really good too as I have heard schools promise/suggest things that I wasn't sure of at the time, now I know them to be way off the mark as far as factual and truthful comments goes. Great posts for the holidays! I often see people in this forum complain, sometimes legitimately, but sometimes you can tell they expect the world to be their servant. Look at the number of times the word "bully" is used. It seems like every director is a bully, or maybe it is someone who doesn't get their way and doesn't like it when a school policy is followed that the teacher doesn't like. I have had lots of fun so far as an international teacher and have not seen the "bullying" so far. I'm not saying that some director out their isn't, but wow, when you see literally a hundred or more posts about "bullies" I really wonder if it is a bully or someone who thinks they are "God's gift to teaching". I work with several and they are actually more forceful about their opinions then the "bully" ever would be. This reminds me of when I was a kid and another kid would hit you, then run to their mom/dad and complain about you (of course leaving out their part). Something to think about?

Let me try again. I, and many others, have never said that if you have had a bad experience that you shouldn't post. We have also never said that the experience never happened or that people should be "blamed" for posting. Who is "blaming" anyone for posting reviews? What we are saying is this - 1.) International teaching can be wonderful (it can also be bad, but so can any job anywhere). 2.) When nothing but negative reviews are written, what does that say about international teaching? I think the opportunity is great. Do your job, try to stay out of the negativity and gossip and it improves the odds of having a nice experience. Notice I said improve the odds and not that it guarantees a nice experience. 3.) With all of the negative reviews, isn't it like crying wolf? A poster said that other people went to the school even after hearing about the reviews. Doesn't that tell you that they don't believe what you are saying? Reading ISR would make me think that there are only 5 or 6 really great places to teach internationally, the others are "for profit", "awful", and "evil" places to work. There are many nice places to work.

To sum this all up. I am not an administrator (there seems to be a paranoia about that.). Everyone has the right to post their comments and no one is being "blamed" for doing so. I'm not sure what the "fix" is. Maybe waiting a while after your experience to write might put it into perspective. Self-reflecting and putting ourselves in the mix i.e. did I do my best, did I handle this in the best way. I can say honestly that I have not always handled situations that have arisen between people in the best way so I could have done/not done things to make the situation better. Read your review for exaggerations or overreactions to make sure you are not making a mountain out of a molehill. It's only human nature to try and make things you don't like seem even worse (for example I hate eggplant so I think it was put on the Earth as a torture device. Clearly exaggerating, but hey I hate eggplant so it's okay right?). I don't think that people who post negative reviews are evil, or anything else. I am simply saying that when I see 9 out of 10 reviews are negative to absolutely horrible, I start to not believe them and that's not good or fair to the really serious problems such as crime, really awful housing, major broken promises, going to the school and finding out that there is no job, sexual harassment, etc. I like the people I work with and for. If I don't I leave. Not everyone has that option, but you do have the option of being polite, friendly, and professional. This goes a long way towards a positive experience, or am I wrong?

I agree with the previous posters. Just look at the contract survey results. Almost half of the people are unhappy with their contracts. There are so many jobs out there to decide from I can't imagine why someone would pick a "bad contract" Also do people read their contract before signing it? It's almost like the idea of the reviews is that someone owes these people a lot, e.g. lots of money, a low teaching load, no stress whatsoever. The site has become one that is made up of complainers. There are some exceptions, but what are they? How do you separate them from the complainers? I agree the relevance of this site is almost down to zero. The only reason it is not is maybe, just maybe for some schools you can see a pattern, but even then who wrote the reviews? How many different people wrote the reviews as opposed to one person writing multiple reviews? I also think I'm going to scream if I see that another school is a "for profit" school without showing how that is being abused. A nonprofit school can have very bad finances, it can have very buildings in a state of disrepair and no supplies, and it can pay outrageous amounts of money to those running it. A non profit just means they have to reinvest the profits, it has nothing whatsoever to do with how much people are paid (or not paid) or how they treat people. Sorry for the long response but I really feel bad for these "negative" people as their life must revolve around finding bad things instead of enjoying what they have. International teaching is more than awesome and I highly recommend doing/trying it!

As far as I know you are usually on a 12 month or 24 month contract, with Winter Break, Summer Break included. Kinda like public school and their 12 month contract.

I work at an international school and I often wonder who writes these evaluations. Reading ISR often makes me wonder who would ever want to teach at an international school. 90 percent of the evaluations are terrible. At our school, our evaluations on ISR are generally bad, but they don't match up to my experiences. If anyone has a gripe about international schools and their "for profit" status, try and order supplies at a public school. They, oh no I've said it, they have a budget. Let's see - public schools have a budget, international schools have a budget. I have not had any problems ordering supplies. If they can be had, I have been encouraged to order them. Politics - again work in a public school and tell me that there isn't favoritism, bad management, etc. There are no doubt some issues at schools (getting mugged, harassed, really awful living quarters, etc.) that need to be said but the danger of constant complainers is that the "real message" gets overlooked because of the "crying wolf" strategy. Also every time someone writes a good review, it is dismissed as an administrator. Do yourselves a favor if you are a complainer - don't work at international schools because according to the reviews on ISR they are all almost universally terrible, political, back-stabbing, "profit making" schools.

If you want the honest truth, You get to travel to a lot of places you dreamed about but could never afford. You get the freedom to do your best and have people listen, without the masses of US school paperwork/tests/rules/etc. You get treated with respect and live a lifestyle overseas that normal teachers in the US could never live. Overall working overseas is wonderful, if you have questions about the school, talk with several different teachers, don't just rely on the reviews at ISR. First you don't know who wrote the review, second you don't know the background or history of what went on, and you are only getting one side of the story. I'm not saying that the reviews are always wrong, but how about some positive reviews or are all we all working at supposedly - horrible, terrible, Oh my god I can't believe I worked there - overseas schools" I have had a great time. Perfect? No, but name the perfect place because I haven't seen one yet (I have seen many amazingly great schools though that I loved working for or would love to work for!)

Sorry for the long rant, but I tire of the negativity.

I had a great experience with Tieonline and you also get access to the newspaper with international teaching articles as well as job openings. I just checked the job openings online and their are loads. I would also post your resume. I got responses within a day so I'm not sure about the comment that there are 1000's of resumes posted. If so someone did a lot of reading to get down to mine! A lot of places are hiring before the job fairs and most advertise on tieonline.

Hope this helps and good luck!

I would probably want to use in the states. I am already certified in Texas so I can test out to become certified in other fields.
thanks!

Hello,
I would love to get my Master's degree and need some advice. I looked at Endicott College's Madrid program. Anyone got any other ideas? I would prefer something in elementary ed or international education.
Thanks everyone.

Hello,
I paid for a subscription to www.tieonline.com. Best money I ever spent. I put my resume online there and emailed some of the schools listing jobs and got dozens of emails and calls. I got my current job overseas without ever attending a job fair (or going to an interview in person). I agree that as June gets closer, the schools get more desperate.